SIMON & GARFUNKEL
United Center / Chicago, IL
October 25, 2003
Concert Review By: Bill Paige

"Old Friends" the name of the tour,
their relationship, the crowd, and the opening song.
The evening started with a video montage of
socially relevant news events over the years and pictures of Paul Simon
and Art Garfunkel through their forty plus years of performing together
and solo work. The duo appeared as the lights came on and performed
"Old Friends." Their seven piece band joined in on the
second song for a rockin' version of "A Hazy Shade Of Winter."
The band provided a tight grove for the two
as Simon and Garfunkel seemed to get vocally stronger as the show
progressed. Their voices do not get as high as they did earlier in
their career, but the slight adjustment to the arrangement of the songs
made the songs hold up strong and added a little spice.
The crowd, a good part who were quite mature
themselves, appeared to be at an intimate setting rather than a packed
arena. The songs and dialogue put everyone at ease. Four
numbers in and the place was swaying to the tale of " America"
as if each person was separately on the journey in that song.
About one-third of the way into the show,
Garfunkel talked about some of their musical influences and called out The
Everly Brothers who performed " Wake Up Little Susie,"
"Dream," and "Let It Be Me." Simon and Garfunkel
then
came on and sang "Bye Bye Love" along with Don and Phil Everly.
This musical interlude was well received by the crowd.
Simon and Garfunkel went into high gear as they
continued the show from that point with a charge of "Scarborough
Fair," "Homeward Bound," "The Sound Of Silence,"
and "Mrs. Robinson," which was preceded by another video showing
clips of the movie "The Graduate" and additional photos of the
duo.
Paul Simon mentioned to the crowd that in the early
stages of his solo career he wrote a lot of songs with Simon and Garfunkel
in mind as the band went into "Slip Sliding Away" which worked
quite well with Garfunkel's harmonies.
"Paul writes good songs," said Garfunkel, a statement that is
somewhat obvious but was genuinely stated. He also brought up the
fifty-year friendship that they have had since grade school.
"With a few interruptions" he added with a chuckle.
Hinting to their on and off again relationship over the past thirty years.
Simon chimed in with a remark about a "little arguing."
Garfunkel did most of the talking between songs.
Simon began to speak a little more as the show progressed. He also
became more animated as the night went on becoming comical on occasion.
The duo ended the main part of their show with
"My Little Town" and " Bridge Over Troubled Water."
The first encore included "Cecilia" and "The Boxer ."
They then stepped away and quickly returned to do "Song For The
Asking" and
finally "The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)."
The fans of the two exited "feelin'
groovy" after two hours of songs that have been the wallpaper in the
rooms of their lives. The smiles on their faces seemed to be
contagious.
And it appeared that Simon and Garfunkel
might just be "Old Friends" again. At least that is what
they portrayed on stage.
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